"When the Giants Come to Town..." is my blog intended to chronicle my thoughts on San Francisco Giants baseball. My special interest is in prospects and the farm system, but of course, will comment on all aspects of the San Francisco Giants. I will also comment on baseball in general, particularly from a fantasy baseball perspective. I hope you will find the site informative, and invite you to join in the discussion.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Pitch count got in the way of a Quality Start by Matt Moore, but the bullpen picked him up and the offense scratched out just enough runs for the W. Key Lines:

Joe Panik- 3 for 4. BA= .257. With Denard Span on the bench with a stiff neck, Panik moved up to #2 in the order and delivered a 3-hit game.

Buster Posey- 1 for 3, 2B, SF. BA= .296. Buster is not trying to do too much and keeping the line moving in this one was enough.

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .276. Crawford did not figure directly in any scoring, but the line, he kept in moving.

Hunter Pence- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .281. Pence drove in 1 run but the 6, 7 and 8 hitters did not drive him in.

Gorkys Hernandez- 1 for 4. BA= .188. Bochy thought about putting Jarrett Parker in CF for more offense, but settled on Hernandez for his D. The move paid off when Hernandez made a leaping catch of a Goldy drive at the wall which would likely have driven in AJ Pollack from 1B had it eluded Gorkys.

Conor Gillaspie- 1 for 1, 3B. BA= .250. Gillaspie has been a terrific bat off the bench for the Giants.

Matt Moore- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.88. That line does not look like he threw 92 pitches in 5.1 innings, but he did. Still, I think the Giants will take that every start if that's what he gives.

The Dodgers scored 8 runs in the final 2 frames of their twinbill with the Rockies to salvage the nightcap 10-8 after losing the opener 7-0. Thus, the Giants were only able to gain 0.5 games and trail the Bad Guys by 1.5 games in the NL West. The Giants lead the Cardinals by 2 games for the first Wild Card playoff spot and lead the Mets by 3.5 games for the second and final WC berth.

With rosters expanding, the Giants activated Mac Williamson and Josh Osich from the DL and called up Kelby Tomlinson, Ty Blach, Steven Okert and Matt Reynolds from Sacramento. They may add more when Sacramento's season is over after Labor Day.

Suarez has an ERA of 2.78 over his last 10 starts. Horan is hitting .301 with a SLG% of 603 for the month of August. It sure seems like the Giants might try to find a way to get Joe Nathan onto the 40 man roster for the stretch run.

Angomas is hitting .299 in the second half. Slatton pitched out of the bullpen most of the season but has started in his last 2 appearances, allowing just 1 ER in 10 IP with 8 K's and 2 BB's. Something to file away for next season. He just moved up from HM to somewhere in the back end of my top 50 Giants prospects list.

Johnny Cueto breezed through 4 innings, then inexplicably fell apart in the 5'th, giving up a 4-spot. Meanwhile, the Giants offense could not take advantage of early opportunities against a subpar Zack Greinke and ultimately came up short. Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .294. Another nice line for Pagan who was clearly hobbled by a hammy as he jogged to 2B on what should have been an easy triple at full speed.

Hunter Pence- 3 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .281. Pence was back in the lineup and seemed OK, but Denard Span left the game early with more neck stiffness in addition to Pagan's hammy problem.

Johnny Cueto- 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.98. Through the first 4 innings, Cueto showed no signs of the collapse to come in the 5'th. After watching the 5'th while listening to Kruk and Kuip describe the action, I am still not sure what happened. Cueto's velocity was good, up to 94 MPH on one pitch. He was down in the zone which would indicate he was not fatigued. He did seem to be nibbling a lot and the ump seemed to squeeze him on a few key pitches, but mostly he just lost his command, ran up a bunch of 3-2 counts and then got hit when he threw a get-it-over. Cueto gave up 3 of his 4 walks and 3 of his 5 hits in the inning which he was not able to complete.

The Giants came into the game trailing the Dodgers in the NL West by 1.5 games after LA got pounded by the Rockies 8-1 on 8/29. The Dodger-Rockie game was postponed so the Giants end up trailing by 2 games. They are 1 game ahead of the Cardinals for the first Wild Card Playoff spot and 3.5 games ahead of the Mets and Pirates for the second WC spot.

Interesting interview with Steve Decker in Giants Extra, linked to the left, about hitter development. He's a bit of a motormouth, to say the least but gave some interesting insights into the Giants thinking.

The big news here is obviously the best start of Beede's pro career, a CG shutout in which he threw just 94 pitches and hit 98 MPH on the radar gun in the 9'th inning per milb.com. After the game, he said his strategy was to pitch to contact with the FB early in the count then use secondary stuff for strikeouts if he got to 2 strikes. He also said that after last year's weak finish, he adopted the motto "Finish Strong" for this season and boy, did he ever?! I think we see here why the Giants were willing to give up Bickford and not Beede at the trade deadline.

Williams gave up a leadoff triple in the first inning that eventually scored, but settled down to shut out the Canadians over the next 5 innings. I've said it before: Geraldo and Rivera are 2 young infielders you don't hear anything about in the national minor league media who I am fairly bullish on.

The rookie Arizona League's season is complete. The Giants missed the playoffs by 0.5 games finishing the second half 16-11, good for second place. They were 12-16 in the first half finishing in last place.

Not much more to say about Austin Slater. I would think he would be a candidate for the Arizona Fall League then a candidate for LF for the Giants next year if they don't re-sign Pagan and Mac or Parker don't grab it.

Duggar would be another AFL candidate, but there are only so many slot available to each organization. Arroyo would be another choice but he went last year and he seems like he maybe just needs to rest. We've spent much of the season wondering how Coonrod gets great results with so few strikeouts. Today's line is just the opposite.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

The Giants set a franchise offensive record, that's both New York and San Francisco, with 4 HR's and 4 Triples in one game. Considering some of the offensive players to play for the franchise and the nature of the current ballpark, that's quite an achievement. The offensive explosion gave Madison Bumgarner more than enough run support in a runaway win. Key Lines:

Denard Span- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(9). BA= .277. Span achieved a personal best for HR's in a season. He's hitting .343 for the month of August and .331 since the All-Star Break. He is also slugging .520 in August.

Brandon Crawford- 3 for 5, 3B(9). BA= .278. Crawford leads active Giants players with 31 career triples. Crawford came into the game hitting .192 over his last 7 games, .250 over his last 15 and .261 over his last 30. With the 3 hits, he's now 8 for his last 17 over 4 games. He seems to like batting cleanup!

Brandon Belt- 2 for 4, 3B, BB. BA= .277. Belt shook off a stiff neck that kept him from starting the last game, to run out one of the team's 4 triples in this one.

Joe Panik- 3 for 5, 2 HR(10), SF. BA= .251. Huge game for Panik, the first multi-homer game of his MLB career with 5 RBI's. Panik came into the game hitting .340 over his last 15 games with 3 dingers. Those numbers will be a lot higher in tomorrow's stat page.

Eduardo Nunez- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(14). BA= .285. In addition to the offense, Nunez turned in a dazzling defensive performance at 3B. One play in particular, a backhanded stab waaaay behind 3B on a ball the took a big hop and forced him to reach up in the air for while fully extended parallel to the ground, then get up and throw in one motion all the way from about 15 feet behind 3B to nail the runner. That play is in the running for most difficult play at 3B I've seen from a Giants 3B which is saying something after Sandoval and Duffy have played the position.

Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.49. You could see that Bumgarner's command was just a bit off, but he ended up with a QS and a much needed W.

The Dodgers are hanging tough and scratched out a 1-0 win over the Cubs so the Giants remain 2 games behind the Hated Ones in the NL West. They did gain a game over the Cardinals in the race for the first Wild Card playoff berth so are now 2.5 games ahead of the Redbirds and 3 games ahead of the Pirates for the second spot.

Brandon Crawford and Matt Kemp traded home runs, except Kemp's came with 2 runners on base. That was the difference in the ballgame as another wave in injuries swept through the Giants clubhouse. Pence was still out with his sore hammy. Jake Peavy was a late scratch, although it seems Suarez was notified he would be starting the previous day. Brandon Belt came down with a stiff neck. Key Lines:

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(12). BA= .274. Crawford played up to the cleanup spot he found himself in, but got no support from the rest of the lineup.

Albert Suarez- 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.35. Suarez was great through one turn through the lineup, then the wheels came off. He just seems to be a 1 turn trough the lineup kind of pitcher. Once the rosters are expanded, maybe Bochy could try lining up 2 or 3 pitchers for the 5'th spot in the rotation with the plan that none will go pitch to more than 9 or 10 batters?

Mike Foltynewicz(Braves)- 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's, GO/AO= 12/1. ERA= 4.30. I don't know what happens to Folty against other teams, but my goodness! He had great looking stuff in this game! FB 95-98 MPH with command of the corners and an excellent changeup and good curveball to back it up. If he can stay healthy, he's an emerging pitcher. Breakout candidate for next season!

The Loss, couple with the Dodgers 3-2 win over the Cubs dropped the Giants 2 games behind the NL West leaders. The Giants remain 1.5 games ahead of the Cardinals for the first Wild Card spot and 3 games ahead of the Marlins and Pirates for the second.

If Jake Peavy cannot reclaim his rotation spot today, I hope Blach gets the next shot. He's definitely earned it with his performance at Sacramento this year. His ERA is 2.28 over his last 10 Starts. Osich looks like he could help down the stretch too.

Low A Rome Braves dominated the Augusta Greenjackets 7-1 in a rain-shortened game to 5.5 innings:

Kolby Allard(Braves)- 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 3.64.

Allard was the Braves first round draft pick in 2015. His draft stock dropped due to a stress fracture in his spine. He dominated the Appy League early in this season. Except for 1 start, he's dominating the SAL too.

The Giants, helped by some sloppy fielding by the Braves, score early and often while Jeff Samardzija escaped jams in the first 2 innings to cruise to an easy win. Key Lines:

Denard Span- 2 for 4. BA= .274. Span is hitting .337 for the month of August and .327 since the All-Star Break.

Angel Pagan- 1 for 4, HR(9). BA= .296. Pagan has a chance to equal or break his career high in HR's for a season(12). Do the Giants try to re-up him for 1 or 2 years or do they turn LF over to one of the kids?

Brandon Belt- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .276. Belt looks much more comfortable batting down in the lineup. He hit out of the 5-hole in this game, driving in the first run with a single and another with a looooong double to the left-CF gap.

Joe Panik- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .249. Panik makes a big contribution for the second game in a row. A hot Panik would be a big help in the stretch run.

Jeff Samardzija- 1 for 2, 2B, Sac. BA= .148. Shark helped himself with the bat. The Sac was just his second of the season.

Jeff Samardzija- 7 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K's. Samardzija had runners at 2'nd and 3'rd with 1 out in the first inning and struck out the next 2 batters to get out of it. He then had the bases loaded with no outs in the second and got out of that one too. All in all, 5 of the 10 Braves baserunners he allowed were in the first 2 innings. He scattered 5 more baserunners over the next 5 innings.

Earlier in the season Samardzija lost all of his offspeed pitches and his hard stuff was getting pummeled. In this game, he used a sharp spike curveball as a nice strikeout pitch. He also showed a splitter that was less consistent.

Kenley Jansen tied Santiago Casilla for Blown Saves with his 6'th of the season and the Dodgers lost to the Cubs 6-4 in 10 innings. The Giants gain a game and now trail The Hated Ones by 1 game in the NL West. The Giants also maintain a 1.5 game lead over the Cardinals for the first Wild Card playoff spot and a 3 game lead over the Marlins for the second spot.

Jake Peavy tries to get his season back on track this evening facing Mike Foltenewicz. A good start by Peavy could put him back in the rotation for the stretch run. A bad one could be his last as a Giant.

Breakout season for McCasland. Can he replicate it at higher levels? Not sure if moving Reynolds from S-K to Augusta was a promotion or a lateral transfer or a downgrade in competition, but he's having no problem with SAL pitching! I'm thinking we're not going to see him in the Cal League for very long next year, if at all.

After his last subpar start, Matt Moore sounded pretty confident that he knew what his mechanical problem was and how to fix it. Boy, did he ever? Moore came within 1 out of no-hitting the Dodgers to give the flagging Giants a big shot in the arm as they head into the stretch run. Key Lines:

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .272. Crawford started a 3 run rally in the 4'th inning with a single. He took 2B on a dribbler by Nunez and scored on a single by Brandon Belt.

Brandon Belt- 1 for 4. BA= .274. It was just a single but it drove in the go-ahead run and set up Panik's HR.

Joe Panik- 1 for 2, HR(8), 2 BB. BA= .248. Panik completed the 3-run rally in the 4'th with a rare Giants dinger at Dodger Stadium. One of the walks produced results as he scored an insurance run in the 6'th inning.

Matt Moore- 8.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.95. Moore was dazzling through 26 outs allowing just 2 BB's. Then he tried to sneak a fastball past Corey Seager on the inside corner and did not get it quite far enough in. Seager lined it into RF to spoil the no-no. At 133 pitches, Moore came out and Santiago Casilla got the final out.

So, both Samardzija and Moore seem to have fixed mechanical problems and both took no-hitters deep into their most recent starts. Whether they can maintain those mechanics the rest of the season will go a long way toward determining the Giants fate down the stretch.

The Win cut the Dodgers lead in the NL West to 2 games over the Giants. The Giants also gained a game in the Wild Card race and now lead by 1.5 games over the Cardinals for the first spot and 3 games over the Marlins for the final playoff spot.

For the second time this season, a solo HR by the opposing team was the only run of the ballgame. Key Lines:

Johnny Cueto- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.86. Going into the 4'th inning, the Giants had 5 hits, the Dodgers none. Justin Turner hit a HR and that was the ballgame. Giants ended up with 6 hits, all singles. The Dodgers had 5, Turner's HR, a double by Howie Kendrick and 4 singles. This game was so much like the games I remember in the 1960's when Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Koufax Drysdale, Sutton, Bob Gibson and Tom Seaver were dominating the game. That kind of baseball can be exciting if you are on the winning side, and exceedingly frustrating if you are not.

Oh, and keeping the line moving is a great strategy except when the line never forms in the first place. Giants need more toonder in their lineup.

The Loss dropped the Giants 3 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. In the Wild Card race, the Giants lead over the Cardinals for the first spot shrank to 0.5 games. They lead the Marlins by 2 games for the second spot and the Pirates by 4.

Minor League Baseball announced that the Bakersfield and High Desert franchises will be contracted out of the California League. There will be 2 new affiliates in the Carolina League and the Cal League will have just 8 teams. It may mean more traveling for the SJ Giants, but maybe we'll get to see them down in SoCal more often?

The Dodgers offense overwhelmed Madison Bumgarner and the Giants in game 1 of their showdown in LA. Key Lines:

Denard Span- 2 for 4, HR(8), BB. BA= .274. Span continues his hot second half hitting. He's currently sitting with an fWAR of 1.2 which translates to a dollar value of $9.4 M. His contract is $31 M over 3 years, so he's essentially a break-even on the Giants investment so far.

Madison Bumgarner- 5 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.44. Was Bummy having an off night or is the Dodgers offense just too good? You hate to waste a good pitching performance, but with the way Bumgarner's season has gone, it might be more frustrating to waste the run support.

Will Smith- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.66. Smith was the only reliever on the night to hold the Dodgers scoreless. Hopefully this is the start of him getting back to form.

The big story here continues to be Austin Slater who has just gone OFF! 4 consecutive games with at least 3 hits with 3 doubles and 4 HR's in that span. Batting .500(19 for 38) over his last 10 games. Playing CF. I looked at a couple of videos. Very short, quick swing direct to the ball. Is he putting himself in the conversation for a 25 man roster spot for next year?

Austin Slater is on fire! 10 for 13 in his last 3 games. Actually in his last 4 games in which he was credited with at least 1 AB, he's 12 for 18. That is a good line for Blach considering the game was played in Reno.

Here are Angomas' BA's by month: April .200, May .195, June .357, July .273, August .339. Ryan Halstead has not allowed an ER in his last 12 appearances and has allowed just 1 in his last 17. In that span, he's pitched 23.1 IP with 29 K's against just 3 BB's.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

All losses count the same in the final standings, but some are harder to take than others. In this one, the Giants wasted Jeff Samardzija's best pitching performance of the season, heck, perhaps his career. I hate wasting great pitching! Key Lines:

Jeff Samardzija- 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 4.17. The Giants offense managed just 3 hits all game, so there's not Key Lines there. Samardzija took a no-hitter into the 7'th inning, the deepest he's taken one in his career only to see it end on a double by Curtis Granderson and a 2-run HR by Yoenis Cespedes. Let's just say Cespedes got all of a hung splitter. Samardzija's starts have been noticeably improving and if this is the guy the Giants get down the stretch, the future is looking a lot brighter despite a frustrating loss.

Jebavy has an outside shot at a 15/20 season. Gomez has a big game. He has turned up the power in SJ. Now the BA has to catch up. Cory Taylor moves down to SJ after 2 successful starts in Richmond. Giants pitchers struck out a total of 18 RC batters in the game.

Matt Moore struggled with his command early and threw 92 pitches in 5 innings. Jake Peavy relieved him and the roof caved in as the Mets built an insurmountable lead. Key Lines:

Denard Span- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(7). BA= .274. Span is 9 for 14 in his last 3 games and his hitting .345 for the month of August.

Angel Pagan- 1 for 2. BA= .299. Pagan extended his hitting streak to 18 games before leaving with a groin strain. He's DTD with the hope he will be ready for the Dodgers series on 8/23.

Hunter Pence- 2 for 3, BB. Pence now has 2 hits in each of his last 3 games.

Matt Moore- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.18. Moore seemed to settle down a bit in the 4'th and 5'th innings, but by that time the pitch count was up there. Maybe he could have gone 1 more inning?

Jake Peavy- 2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.55. Peavy had been pitching OK in relief. There are 2 pitchers the Giants have yet to find replacements for in the bullpen, Jeremy Affeldt and Yusmeiro Petit. It would seem Peavy is not that guy either.

The Giants broke open close game late with a total of 7 runs in the 7'th and 8'th innings. Key Lines:

Denard Span- 4 for 5. BA= .273. Span has 7 hits in his last 2 games and his season numbers are steadily working their way to his career average.

Angel Pagan- 2 for 5. BA= .298. Pagan extends his hit streak to 17, 2 short of the longest in MLB this season. He is hitting .352 in that span.

Brandon Belt- 2 for 5, 3B. BA= .278. Belt is hitting .223 over his last 3 games. He hit another ball hard that Cespedes caught at the warning track in left-CF so maybe Belt was seeing the ball better?

Hunter Pence- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .275. The double was a pop-up that the Mets misplayed, but Pence never stopped running full speed and was on 2B when the ball dropped. He also ran a long way to make a sprawling catch of a ball headed up triples alley and threw out a runner at home although the assist was due more to a baserunning mistake by the opposing rookie pitcher. Anyway, with 4 hits in his last 2 games, maybe Pence is heating up?

Eduardo Nunez- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .289. Nunez started the go-ahead rally in the 7'th with a loud double to left-CF. He also made a nice diving stop and throw-out from behind 3B on defense.

Joe Panik- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .245. Panik seemed to be in the middle of everything as he scored 3 runs including the first one for the Giants in the game. He reached on a key throwing error by Asdrubal Cabrera in the 8'th to extend the big rally. Kruk and Kuip commented that Panik was moving around a lot better in the field too.

Ehire Adrianza- 1 for 1. BA= .333. Nice piece of managing by Bochy here. In the 8'th inning with the game still tied and the pitcher's spot coming up, Boch had Conor Gillaspie swinging a bat in the on-deck circle, but as Terry Collins waited to bring in LHP Jerry Blevins, Boch pulled Gillaspie back and announced Gregor Blanco. Then, once Blevins was in the game, Boch pulled Blanco for Adrianza who, as a switch-hitter, could bat RH against the lefty. Adrianza had a tremendous AB punching one through the right side to drive in the go-ahead run. Span followed with another RBI single for a 3-1 lead. Meanwhile, Bochy still had Gillaspie available for PH duties in the 8'th inning.

Conor Gillaspie- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .262. Gillaspie finally got his turn to PH in the 8'th and he capped the scoring with a 2-run blast into the arcade in RF.

Johnny Cueto- 7 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 11/4. ERA= 2.90. Cueto had his full bag of tricks working and held the Mets at bay while the Giants tried to solve the rookie pitcher they were facing. The Giants rally in the bottom of the 7'th gave the Cueto the decision and put his W-L at 14-3. It was the first time Bumgarner and Cueto have won B2B since June 30/July 1. Their next starts will be against the Dodgers next week.

A battle of aces turned into a slugfest as the Giants outscored the Mets. Key Lines:

Denard Span- 3 for 4, Sac. BA= .267. Span is hitting .345 over his last 7 games, .328 over his last 15 and .317 over his last 30.

Angel Pagan- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .296. Pagan has a 16 game hit streak, currently the longest in the majors.

Buster Posey- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .295. Buster is 7 for 14 in his last 3 games. He is hitting .364 over his last 7, .357 over his last 15 and .312 over his last 30.

Brandon Crawford- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .276. Crawford is 6 for 13 over his last 3 games.

Hunter Pence- 2 for 5. BA= .272. Pence is still finding his stroke after missing most of the season with a hammy tear.

Eduardo Nunez- 4 for 4, 3B, SB(30). BA= .290. Nunez seems to be settling in after some yips after the trade.

Madison Bumgarner- 1 for 3, HR(3). BA= .179. Bum almost had another dinger on a prior AB sending a hanging curveball hooking way past the LF foul pole. He followed that up with a scorcher to CF that was caught.

Madison Bumgarner- 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.25. 4 of the hits and 2 of the walks came in a disastrous 4'th inning. Justin Ruggiano who seems to own Bummy hit a grand slam to drive in all 4 runs, but it was the walks that set it up. Then next two batters after the slam hit singles, but Bummy managed to collect himself and get out of it.

The bullpen was again shaky allowing 3 more runs but the Giants offense overcame.

Not much of a surprise that Matt Cain hit the DL with a sore back. The rotation now moves up so the Giants can bring 2 LHP's agains the Dodgers next week. I'll guess Peavy moves back into the rotation when the Giants need a 5'th starter again.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

The Giant offense staked Matt Cain to a 4-0 lead after 3 innings. For his part, Cainer retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced, then the roof caved in. When the dust had settled in the top of the 5'th inning, the Pirates had posted a 6-spot. The Giants never caught up. Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 3 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .299. Pagan may be headed for another payday in a weak FA class. He's been the most consistent Giants hitter this season.

Buster Posey- 3 for 5. BA= .294. Unfortunately Buster's lone RBI came in the 9'th on a bases-loaded no-outs GIDP.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 5, 2B, 3B. BA= .271. Crawford started out like he was aiming for a cycle, but then the hits stopped coming.

Matt Cain- 4.2 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.81. Cain took the mound in the top of the 5'th inning with a 4-0 lead having retired 12 of 13 batters. He proceeded to go HBP, BB, BB, BB to walk in the first run. He finished out his start with a 1B, SF, AO, HR. The dinger was a 2-run job by Andrew McCutchen that made it 6-4 and Cain's day was over. It sounds like the Giants will use an off day Monday to skip his next start on Tuesday in LA with lefties Bumgarner starting game 1 of that series and Matt Moore game 2. That is what they SHOULD do!

Jung Ho Kang hit a 2-out, 2-strike blast to CF for the game winning HR off Derek Law in the 8'th inning and the Giants could not recover. Key Lines:

Buster Posey- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .290. Buster was back in the lineup after missing 2 with a stiff back. He drove in the first 2 runs with a double up Triples Alley.

Jeff Samardzija- 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.24. Shark had a QS and left the game tied at 3-3. He again showed a pretty good curveball to help keep batters off the FB although he did elevate some pitches early in the game and hung a slider than Francisco Cervelli drove off the LF wall.

Hunter Strickland- 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K. BA= .283. Strickland did not look at all happy when Bochy lifted him for Derek Law to face the RH hitting Starling Marte with 2 out and 2 on. Law came through with a K on a letter-high 95 MPH heater. Strickland gave Law a high 5 in the dugout, but then walked past a staff person who tried to high-5 him and he still did not have a happy look on his face.

Derek Law- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.11. Buster Posey had just gunned down Andrew McCutchen on a CS for the second out. Law had 2 strikes on Kang. He threw something in the strike zone and Kang, who has burned the Giants multiple times, blasted it into the netting in straightaway CF for the game winner. Law has been the Giants most reliable reliever, so where do they go from here?

The Giants got a subpar start from Matt Moore and another wretched performance from the bullpen for another loss. Key Lines:

Denard Span- 3 for 5, HR(6). BA= .263. Span his hitting .289 over his last 30 games, but with a disappointing OBP of .328.

Angel Pagan- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .292. Pagan has an OBP of .345 compared to Span's .330 on the season. Pagan also has a .302 BA with a .367 OBP over his last 30 games.

Brandon Belt- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .282. Belt is 6 for 18 over his last 4 games.

Eduardo Nunez- 2 for 5, HR(13). BA= .287. Nunez' first HR as a Giants was hit pretty good, several rows back in the LF stands. It cut the Pirates lead to 5-3. Span's dinger later in the same inning made it 5-4.

Matt Moore- 6 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.14. Moore got away with a high walk rate in his first 2 starts but walks and location mistakes are a deadly combination. Moore 4 of the 5 RBI's off Moore were off the bat of the only lefty hitter in the Pirates lineup, Gregory Polanco.

George Kontos- 0.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 2.53. Kontos has been pitching well, but he allowed hits to the first 2 batters he faced and got the hook.

Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.78. The first hit Romo gave up was a blooper over a drawn-in IF. He allowed Kontos' other run to score on a double by Starling Marte. Around all that, he struck out the side.

Will Smith- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 0 K. ERA= 4.91. Smith simply has not been what the Giants hoped they were getting. We are seeing just how valuable Jeremy Affeldt has been to this team over the years.

Stratton has had his ups and downs this season. Games like this make you think he can still have some sort of MLB career. I tend to believe it will be as a reliever where he can throw the FB at a higher velocity.

This is Cory Taylor's first full season of pro ball. He had a breakout season for Augusta and now puts an exclamation point on it with a dominating second start at AA setting himself up nicely to start next season in Richmond.

Santiago Casilla completed the destruction of a seemingly insurmountable lead by hanging a curveball to Jonathan Schoop with 2 runners on base in the top of the 9'th inning. Unlike Casilla, Orioles Closer Zack Britton shut down a feeble Giants rally in the bottom of the inning for the game and series win. Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .289. Pagan continues to be Mr. Consistency at the plate, although his misplay of a ball in LF contributed to the Orioles winning rally in the 9'th inning.

Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, HR(8). BA= .274. The 2 hits and dinger are a great sign as the Giants desperately need Pence's bat the middle of the lineup the rest of the way.

Trevor Brown- 3 for 5. BA= .266. Brownie was a last minute fill-in when Buster Posey was scratched due to a stiff back. The Giants did not lose because of Buster's absence.

Johnny Cueto- 2 for 3. BA= .115. Giants pitchers can swing the bat.

Johnny Cueto- 6.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.97. With a 7-1 lead and a rested bullpen, you had to feel good about this game even after the lead shrunk to 7-3 under Cueto's watch.

Hunter Strickland- 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.57. Strickland got Cueto out of his jam in the 7'th, but gave up a solo HR to Mark Trumbo plus 2 more hits with Derek Law allowing one of the runners he inherited from Strickland to score.

Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K, BS(6). ERA= 3.28. The warning signs were there early when the first two batters hit rockets. Brandon Crawford made a leaping grab on the first one by Hyun Soo Kim, but Pagan got caught in no-man's land on Machado's to LF and it went through the wickets for a hit and an error putting Machado at 2B. Casilla got a break from the ump who called Chris Davis out on strikes for the second out. Casilla appeared to want no part of Mark Trumbo and walked him on 5 pitches 2 of which were closer to the strike zone than 2 of the pitches that were called strikes on Davis. Casilla then got strike one on Schoop with a nasty two seamer on the inside corner at the knees. Brownie then motioned for a pitch low and away and everybody in the ballpark knew a curveball was coming next. Casilla hung it out over the plate and Schoop blasted it.

MLB has put out their Midseason Top 30 Prospect lists which account for the 2016 draft and trading deadline transactions. As I always say, take these lists with a grain of salt as it is much more important to be aware of the prospects in the system. I'll provide some commentary, but again, don't get too hung up on theirs or my opinion. There is a reason why they play the games!

1. Christian Arroyo IF- My pre-season #1 Giants prospect and remains there now. While some are disappointed in his AA season, I think it's been terrific given his age and the environment he's playing in.

2. Tyler Beede RHP- My #2 pre-season and remains there. Reportedly throwing a lot harder this year but the control issues have resurfaced from time-to-time. I do think that between Bickford and Beede, the Giants kept the right guy.

3. Chris Shaw 1B- Shaw pounded the Cal League in his first full season but then struggled after a promo to AA. He's strictly a 1B, which limits his value. There are several other Giants prospects I might have ranked higher even though I still believe in the bat.

4. Bryan Reynolds CF- Giants highest 2016 draft pick in round 2. Has performed as well as you could expect for a high college draft pick in Short Season ball. The debate in my mind is between him, Duggar and Andrew Suarez for the #3 slot above.

5. Sam Coonrod RHP- has had good results as a starter for both San Jose and AA Richmond. Velocity reportedly still there. You have to wonder about the low K rate. Keith Law thinks he's a reliever due to his high effort deliver and relative lack of secondary stuff. Can't completely disagree.

6. Aramis Garcia C- This has been pretty much a lost season for Garcia after taking a pitch to the face and missing most of the season. I'm thinking we may see him in the AFL to get him more AB's.

7. Joan Gregorio RHP- Love his ceiling but is he ever going to consistently command the strike zone? I guess I see him as a future bullpen arm, not that there is anything wrong with that.

8. Andrew Suarez LHP- Initially struggled after a promo to AA but has ripped off a string of QS's over the last couple of months. Giants reportedly love his ability to command 4 good pitches. I would probably rank him a bit higher than #8, 4 or 5 or maybe even #3!

10. Steven Duggar OF- Duggar has had a tremendous season at 2 levels and is currently hitting above .300 for AA Richmond. He's got size and athleticism on his side and can play all 3 OF positions with enough speed to cover CF and an arm to play RF. I would rank him ahead of Shaw due to athleticism and position and have him challenging Reynolds for the #3 ranking.

11. Steven Okert LHP- I have no idea why Okert would rank in the top 30 at all let alone #11. Lefty reliever at best who has shown no sign that he's close to ready to get MLB hitters out.

12. Rodolfo Martinez RHP- Reliever with a big fastball. Martinez dominated the Cal League but has struggled mightily since his promo to AA. I guess I'm OK with him this high on the strength of his velocity alone.

13. CJ Hinojosa SS- Was sensational in San Jose in the first half. Got off to a great start after a promo to AA, but has tailed off lately.

14. Clayton Blackburn RHP- Blackburn is starting to become a bit of an enigma. Looked ready to take the next step to the majors at the end of last season but has been inconsistent this year. May be a AAAA pitcher.

15. Jalen Miller 2B- Has kept his head above water as a young player in the SAL. Has shown flashes of power. Has stayed at 2B even after Lucius Fox got traded.

16. Ray Black RHP- Still brings the triple digit heat, but can't seem to stay healthy or consistently keep his walk rate down. Not sure the velocity alone gets him this high.

17. Dylan Davis OF- Bat has really come alive this year and the peripherals are steadily improving too. I could see him having a Mark Trumbo/Mike Napoli type of career as a low-average power hitter.

18. Chase Johnson RHP- stock has to be way down after getting bounced from the Richmond rotation. Looks like he's surfacing as the closer there and maybe that justifies this ranking?

19. Heath Quinn OF- Giants got at least 2'nd round value when they drafted Quinn in the 3'rd round. He off to a fantastic start to his pro career in S-K which historically means squat. His peripherals are better than Reynolds though. Unlike Reynolds, he's strictly a corner OF.

20. Matt Krook LHP- Krook was a pre-season first round talent who had a rough junior season for Oregon. The struggles have continued in his pro debut. Not sure he has shown enough to rank him this high.

21. Hunter Cole OF- Got off to a slow start this year in AA but has picked it up in the last 2 months.

22. Austin Slater OF- hard to separate him from Cole. Had a great first half in AA but struggled with the transition to AAA. Has hit better of late. He has also burnished his defensive reputation by playing some CF.

23. Ty Blach LHP- Blach might be the hottest pitcher in the organization at this point with a string of QS's with several dominant starts thrown in for Sacramento. The PCL is a brutal league to pitch in and Blach has thrived over the past 2 months. I think I would rank him higher than this and feel he deserves a shot at pitching in the majors somewhere.

25. Kyle Crick RHP- Has been inconsistent this season which is better than being consistently bad. Baby steps! Still has that high ceiling if he can ever harness it.

26. Chris Stratton RHP- Looked pretty good in a few scattered innings during a callup to SF. Still inconsistent as a starter in the minors.

27. Cory Tayler RHP- Breakout season for Augusta. Recent promotion to AA. Too early to judge him there.

28. Ian Gardeck RHP- Hard thrower but fringy relief prospect before TJ surgery. I would not rank him in the top 30 myself.

29. Ronnie Jebavy OF- got off to a slow start in San Jose but has picked it up in the second half. If he ever makes the most of his tools, he is a potential 15-20 guy.

30. Gio Brusa OF- Senior draftee out of Pacific. Grew up a Giants fan. He's got size and athleticism but a checkered college career. We'll have to wait until next year, presumably in San Jose to get a good read on him. I do think he could be a seriously undervalued draft pick from 2016.

Here are some names I would consider for my top 30 that did not make this list: Matt Gage LHP AA, Jonah Arenado 1B High A, Ryder Jones 3B/1B AA, Sandro Fabian OF Rookie AZL, Dan Slania RHP High A(has also pitched successfully in AA and AAA this year).

About Me

I grew up in Northern California near the Napa Valley. I got interested in baseball and the Giants by listening to Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons broadcast Giants games on KSFO. My early heros were Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal and a guy you don't always think of, Jim Ray Hart. When I got older and was in school and early career, I didn't have time to follow as closely, but I tried to look up their boxscores each day and catch an occasional game on TV. One habit I got into at an early age was looking up the stats of their minor league players in The Sporting News. That became more difficult as TSN moved away from comprehensive baseball coverage. Now, of course, technology and affluence has changed all that. The internet is teaming with farm system/minor league information as well as college and high school baseball. Satellite TV enables me to get most of the Giants games on TV. I'm married with 2 wonderful daughters, who like to watch games with me.